Monday, October 11, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

This has been something of a whirl wind weekend forDH and I, as all such holiday weekends seem to be. An extraday added on to a weekend does not necessarily mean moretime to do whatever we want. Rather it means more stuff todo and not enough time to do it all, even with the extra day.

My days all started with getting up around 7:00 am,getting dressed and heading out for my walk. Knowinghow much of Thanksgiving is celebrated with knife andfork in hand I figured that I'd better be getting my walkingexercise in, no excuses and no slacking off. So each dayI've walked for one and a half hours and covered six milesper walk. As of today I have therefore walked eighteenmiles over this weekend!!

Saturday I took my camera with me during my walk andstopped often to take pictures of the trees in their Fallsplendor, or of favorite houses, or of the Farmer'sMarket that we have here in Georgetown every Saturdaymorning from June until the end of October. This littlehouse and the beautiful Fall foliage around it caught myeye and begged to be photographed. I was happy tooblige.

At the Farmer's Market there was lots to entertain mycamera and me both visually and gastronomically. Notonly the fruits and vegetables of the season, but also theadded pleasures of back bacon on a bun, maple syrup,fresh honey, and baked just that morning strudels. Notto mention hand made jewelery, knitted things, and somuch more.

The Fall foliage this year has been spectacular. It seems asthough we're getting more reds and oranges in the mix (alongwith the usual yellows and golds) then we usually do and theresulting display of Autumn's glory is breathtaking. Do youhave more of these colors then usual in your neighborhood aswell?? We still have plenty of trees left that haven't yet begunto have their leaves change color so this awe inspiring showwon't be over for some weeks to come yet, I'm happy to say.

I had another stitching finish of sorts this past summer. I workedon this piece while my Mom was in the hospital and found it to beperfect because of it's size and because it only used the one colorso required no color changes and only one skein of thread to becarried around. And it was silk thread too, which is always such apleasure to work with. I haven't decided whether to put in thedate and initials as charted in the original design. I kind of like itplain and uncluttered, the way it is now. I'm not planning any kindof a specific finish for this right now so I can let the decision simmerin my brain for awhile yet.

And here's a tease for you. My current project, though it'sbeen sadly neglected these past few weeks. I owe it a goodlong chunk of dedicated stitching time today if I can, butthat may not be possible. We'll just have to take it one stepat a time. Can you guess what this design is??? It won't behard I'm sure.

I got this years JCS Christmas Ornaments issue a few weeksago and there are quite a few designs that I really, really like.I would love to stitch a few Christmas ornaments and actuallyhave one all picked out and ready to go. It means timeaway from my above project but thems the breaks. Diversityis the spice of life, right??

What I've been up to this past summer and Fall -an ongoing report .....

A couple of friends and I went to Black CreekPioneer Village during the third weekend ofSeptember.

One of the things that I look forward to every Fall is theMennonite Fall Fair at Black Creek Pioneer Village inToronto. An authentic village recreated using buildingsfrom around the Toronto area that were moved to thesite to save them from demolition and neglect. BlackCreek Pioneer Village is a wonderful opportunity to travelback in time, and spend the day in a country settingwhile still being within the city's borders.

Volunteers in period clothing put on demonstrationsof various sorts in the buildings, including the ladyin the above picture who is putting out freshly madeBeet Butter onto small also freshly made biscuitsthat she'd just taken out of the brick oven behind her.

Have you ever tried Beet Butter??? Me neither. Ohboy was it delicious though!! Sweet and sticky andso wonderful on those little biscuits. I confess that Isnuck back and had seconds of this yummy treat.

Each building is furnished as it would have been backin the nineteenth century, including those decorativefeatures that would have made these places a home.And that of course includes a number of samplers.I took pictures of any that I came across that day andhere is one that I particularly liked. Isn't it a beauty?Love the border, and the bouquets of flowers. It'sperfectly stitched and check out that little dog at thebottom. You can click on the picture to get a closerlook at all the details.

I'll post pictures of the other samplers in future posts,as well as some other pictures taken around the village.

I have been reading while this computer was off for repairs, andI'll try to post a brief report about the ones that I enjoyed themost and would recommend to you. I need to update the list atthe side of my blog there of the books that I've read since it iswoefully behind.

I just finished "An Impartial Witness" last week and I reallyenjoyed it. It's the first time that I've read this author or, tobe specific, authors because this series is written by a Motherand Son duo. They have two mystery series on the go, both ofwhich take place during the first world war era. This is theBess Crawford series, and is the second book in that series. Ihaven't got the first book yet, but after reading this one planto get it as soon as I can.

I really enjoyed this book because of the main character, Bess,and because the authors have done a wonderful job ofrecreating the WWI era. The mystery is interesting and keepsyour attention but it's the strong, vividly well drawn charactersthat kept me reading this book whenever I could grab a freeminute. Bess is a strong, intelligent and intuitive woman witha strong belief in doing the right thing and taking duty andresponsibility very much to heart. She will not walk away fromthe investigation until the truth is discovered, no matter whatthe danger to herself. I really, really loved this book and willbe getting as many of the author's other books as I can find.

On Saturday DH and I went to visit my Aunt and we allwent to Swiss Chalet for lunch. DH and I had theirspare ribs which were part of a special offer where ifyou ordered the ribs you also got a quarter chicken forfree. Great deal. We'd never had ribs at Swiss Chaletbefore and were quite pleasantly surprised by howfantastic and delicious they were. You know how dryribs in a restaurant can be?? These were fall off thebone tender and so very tasty. Back at my Aunt'swe had a slice of cherry and a slice of apple strudelwith French Vanilla ice cream. The strudel beingfrom the Georgetown Farmer's Market and wasfresh baked that morning. MMMmmmmm!!!

Thanksgiving dinner on Sunday was just DH, his sister andmyself. I made turkey and all the trimmings, and my SILbrought pumpkin pie for desert. Then we sat down at thetable, just the three of us, to eat and I found myself over-whelmed with emotion. I guess that the empty fourth chairwas a glaring reminder of my Mom never being here againand it caught me off guard. I'm afraid dinner wasn't asenjoyable as it would otherwise have been for me. But wegot through it.

Today is leftovers day. Left over everything, including thepumpkin pie, whipped cream and the strudel and ice creamwhich my Aunt would absolutely not allow us to leavebehind with her.

Now you know why I walked 18 miles this weekend.

DH and I went to the Terra Cotta Conservation area,a twenty minute drive from here, this afternoon andspent a couple of hours walking some of the trails.

Yes ... more walking.

It was overcast but dry and the scenery was beautiful.I'm trying to get DH to get out and walk with me moreand explore some of the many wonderful parks andconservation areas that we have here in southernOntario. I think that he enjoyed our walk today sohere's hoping we can do it again.

I think it's time I wrap this up and published it beforeit gets too much longer. Besides, the turkey and otherleftovers that having been warming in the oven for thepast two hours are calling to me. It's time for dinner.

Hope you are all well and if you are fellow Canucks Ihope that you had a grand long weekend and Thanksgiving. Thanks for dropping by and slogging throughmy little (!!) post here. Take care.

10 comments:

Happy, happy Thanksgiving Judy. I am glad that you had a wonderful day even though a little sad without your Mom.Love the scenery pictures. The fall colors are spectacular this year around our area too.

Happy Thanksgiving, Judy. It's good to have you back. Loved your stitching projects, the photos, and your book suggestions. Good walking; we're trying to extend our jaunts also, not too hard until the rain comes......

Happy Thanksgiving Judy! I love all of your photos. The fall colours are lovely aren't they. We always get the reds and oranges up here but I do find there is more colour further south than usual. We are that much further ahead of you so our colours have peaked and it won't be long before they're gone.Your WIP looks great as well as your finish.You have Black Creek Pioneer Village and we have Upper Canada Village. Very similar. I loved seeing the sampler pic. Sounds like you have enjoyed your weekend. Too bad it couldn't last longer, right?

Hi Judy , Loved reading this post with all your wonderful pics. Your finish is beautiful in the blue . I have a good idea what your latest tease is but won't give it away for the others! Love those designs and the new Christmas ones coming out are beautiful. I haven't posted in so long but hope to soon. I was certainly thinking of you and knew that the empty chair would be an emotional time.I have to get walking like you do and enjoy where we live. The colours are beautiful. We have a lot of orange and a hint of red in our yard that we enjoy every year.Loved your Black Creek pics. Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Happy Thanksgiving, although I'm late wishing it to you and Phill. About all the fall colours, I can only say: UAU! Amazing surroundings! Beatiful pictures! If it was easy, I would want to move there, or somewhere like there. I'm definitely stuck to the city!!About the emotions, it will always be there in the back of your mind, but it will get better!!!Hugs and kisses

What a wonderful post, Judy! Almost as good as sitting down together over a cup of tea and talking about everything! Your Thanksgiving celebration sounds very bittersweet. Hopefully next year there will be a little less sadness, though I'm sure your Mom's empty place will never be something you can ignore. I loved your nature photos and the glimpses of your walks! I should make some time somewhere in my schedule for walking - I love it and it's beautiful here, too. Your stitching looks wonderful and I really like that sampler you photographed from the Pioneer Village celebration.

I am glad that you had a good Thanksgiving, Judy! I know how bittersweet holidays can be when you are missing a loved one, whether it's been months or years since they've passed away. Big hugs. Thanksgiving is always the hardest holiday for me because I can so clearly see my father sitting at the table, peeling apples for an apple pie. Sometimes the image is so clear that I dream that maybe I can walk down the stairs and find him sitting there. Anyway, big hugs--it is hard!

I loved your autumnal pics! I have to say, we've had a better foliage show this year than usual. I always feel like it's a little gift to me, because I miss autumn in the US so much. I love the deep oranges and reds.

Well i have no idea what you new start is,lol, i do love you little blue finish though, very cute:-)I loved all your autumn photos, beautiful colours, & well done you for doing all that walking, you make me feel so lazy, lol.